Why Extreme Sex Is So Hot Right Now

You’ve all heard about the skydiving booty call. But that pair is hardly the first to combine two adrenaline rushes into one. They’re not anywhere near the last, either. Extreme sex is the story of the season, with everyone trying to find ways to bone down while kite surfing or bungee jumping or whitewater rafting on a blow-up doll. Seriously.

Notes From a Trend

Celebs do it. Look no further than British tycoon Sir Richard Branson for proof. Vanity Fair featured a photo spread of Branson kiteboarding with model Denni Parkinson naked and clinging to his back (see the eye-popping image on next page). Granted, you aren’t going to get up to top speed, but who the hell cares?

Zealots freak out about it. A British evangelical Christian group denounced a book featuring a crude drawing of a couple having sex atop a skateboard. The controversy highlights the truly international character of the trend. In England, they’re humping on top of moving skateboards. In Russia, they’re mounting sex dolls and using them as whitewater rafts.

Porn reflects it. The prolific Gianna Michaels starred in a “film” about motocross culminating in a massive orgy. More on the nose: that video of a couple going at it whilst suspended from a repelling rope. (Google “alpine sex” and you’ll find it.)

Pay cable pushes it. The PlayboyTV show Badass is all about action sports and nakedness. So far, they’ve gotten lovely ladies to strip down and try everything from ziplining to drifting to shark cage diving and more. Sherra Michelle told us all about it. Personally, we’re not crazy about anything that combines nudity and a harness, but these women smile through it like champs. Day rates probably help.

The Experts’ Take

On one rather obvious point, our experts agree: people want a little extra thrill to go with their sex. Obviously there’s something more to it than that. Otherwise, why not just hook up while you hold up a liquor store or rip the labels off mattresses?

“Anything that elevates levels of blood flow generally equals more physical pleasure,” Miyoko Fujimori, a former Playboy TV talk show host and author of The Housewife’s Guide to the Practical Striptease. “The pelvic area of either sex becomes engorged.” Apparently, men are not the only ones who get boners. “The vaginal cavity is flat when not aroused, like a flaccid penis. When women become aroused, the vaginal walls fill with blood, creating a space in the canal for more pleasurable penetration.”

There’s another factor involved: most extreme sex sports take place in public. Richard Wagner, Ph.D., asserts that sexual exhibitionism backs up the trend. “Extreme sports and public sex are just one of these kinds of displays,” says Wagner, a clinical sexologist in private practice in Seattle. “I actually don’t see a fundamental difference between the two. I suspect that the people who exhibit these behaviors don’t either.”

Mikaya Heart, author of The Ultimate Guide to Orgasm for Womenand an avid kite surfer,provides a third perspective. “Kite surfing often sublimates my need for sex,” she says, adding that action sports provide a release similar to orgasm. Thus, we see the adrenaline rush from both ends: it heightens the excitement of the moment, but that heightening of excitement leads to a greater sense of relief after. Think not just of the best orgasm you’ve ever had—think of the best post-sex nap you’ve ever had, multiplied by ten thousand.

Our Take

Of course we accept the word of our sexperts, but they seem to be missing out on something. We’re a generation raised on easily accessible hardcore porn, and sex is a bit like drug use. You need to constantly up the dosage. Add to that a social media crowd largely unafraid of getting drunk and exposed and posting the photos on Facebook and Twitter, and you’ve got a potent thrill-seeking mixture. Action sports and sex combine to meet needs previously undiscovered. But really, why are you reading this article? Why aren’t you finding a halfpipe to go make extreme love on?